I recently took a trip to New York, and brought WAY too much camera gear with me (SPOILERS: It was totally worth it). I brought along the X100F as well, as I liked the idea of having a small, pocketable camera to use as my "normal" range (with the 50mm and 70mm digital teleconversion) paired with the Canon 1DX Mark II and 11-24 L I lugged along with me on the trip, and also because I always have the X100F on me.

Previously, I'd taken it with me to Chicago and shared some of my settings I used on that trip for some street photography, mostly using the wonderful ACROS film simulation. Ever since that trip, I'd been using my X100F almost exclusively as a B&W camera for everything from everyday snapshots, to a couple portraits.

My X100F was setup for my trip as follows:

Film Simulation: ACROS+R

Dynamic Range: 100

Highlight Tone: +4

Shadow Tone: +4

Sharpness: +2

Noise Reduction: -4

Grain Effect: OFF

The settings were mostly the same, with the exception of the Noise Reduction setting, which I have turned all the way down to -4. I like the grittiness of the noise from the X-Trans III sensor coupled with the ACROS film simulation which also applies some additional magic sauce to the way noise and grain is rendered at higher ISOs.

I also used the X100F frequently with the Velvia film simulation, but I'll share those settings and some photos in another post.

Before these last few trips, I never quite understood why anyone would want to own something like a Leica M Monochrom or a Phase One "Achromatic" back, but now I get it. I'm usually bad with black and white photography, as I usually shoot and edit for vivid, vibrant, bright colors, but B&W photography has a certain charm and character about it, and the ACROS film sim on the newest Fuji bodies is sublime in that regard — especially for street photography in a location with as much texture as NYC. The way texture and depth is captured with the absence of color really does something for me now, and I look forward to shooting more B&W work with the X100F.

The following are all straight out of camera shots from the X100F, shot in JPEG. I've owned a handful of Fuji cameras starting with the original X100, and the film simulation modes are easily my favorite feature of their cameras — the JPEGs that come out of Fuji cameras with their film sims is pleasing enough that I almost never have to touch them, and among all the Fuji cameras I've owned, I've shot them in JPEG 99% of the time. Even supplied lightroom calibrations for the Fuji film sims don't quite get it right most of the time, so I've been completely happy living in JPEG-land with these cameras.

Fuji X100F - 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 400 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 250 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 800 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/40, f/2.8, ISO 10000 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/100, f/5.6, ISO 200 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/2000, f/2.8, ISO 400 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/200, f/8.0, ISO 250 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/100, f/5.0, ISO 1600 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/2500, f/5.0, ISO 400 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 400 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 1600 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/400, f/5.6, ISO 1600 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/400, f/5.6, ISO 1600 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Fuji X100F - 1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 1600 - ACROS+R Film Simulation

Help us out!

If you have any questions or comments, leave 'em down below, or shoot us an e-mail! And, as always, if you're thinking about buying some gear, use our Amazon links throughout this article or down below; it helps us create content that you like to read or that helps you out, and it costs you nothing — win/win! We appreciate the support.